SEO

Many freelance writers find themselves in a tough bind. Even the good writers.

No matter how great your writing is, you aren’t making enough money. You write too many words for far too little money. You spend way too much time looking for the wrong gigs. It feels like you’re running in circles, going nowhere.

Here’s a secret I want to let you in on:You’ll land higher paid gigs by providing more than just quality writing. By understanding that the value you’re providing matters, and the solution isn’t necessarily more words.

The solution to getting paid more is to give your clients more of what they want: more traffic, links, leads, and ultimately sales. And you can do that when you apply content marketing strategies to running your freelancing business.

I know, because my first seven blogs never made a dime. But things have changed with my latest blog, The Storyteller Marketer, because I started using three key content marketing strategies to grow my business. Now I command rates 15 to 20 times higher than a lot of other writers.

Not only that, I began to connect with New York Times-bestselling authors, TED speakers, and the who’s who of marketing. All by changing my perspective to think like a content marketer instead of ‘just a writer.’

What changed? Here are the three things I did to help me take my freelancing business to the next level:

When you start out as a freelance writer, there’s a lot to learn. I know when I got back into freelance writing in 2005, I subscribed to dozens of email newsletters and spent hours every day, reading, watching videos, and attending live events.

But learning how to be a successful freelance writer is a bottomless pit. There’s always more you *could* know that *might* help your freelance writing career.

And often, new writers fall into this pit, and forget to get any clients. They get a creeping learning addiction that stops them from moving forward.

I see these writers leaving loads of comments on the Freelance Writers Den forums, or on LinkedIn’s writer forums, or commenting on every single blog post on popular blogs.

They ask arcane questions like these:

Should I create a mirror site to protect my writer website in case it’s hacked?

What’s the best SEO keyword tool?

Should I do marketing on autopilot with email autoresponders?

What are the best apps for coordinating writing projects with clients?

A year later, these writers sometimes quietly confide to me that they’re flat broke and had to take a day job. They were so busy learning everything about how to be a succcessful, 21st Century freelance writer, they fell victim to analysis-paralysis — and forgot that the top priority is getting clients and generating freelance writing income!

How can you focus, learn what’s essential, and move forward to earn as a freelance writer? Here are my tips:

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